Cursed ItemsEdit

Cursed items are magic items with some sort of potentially negative impact. Sometimes they’re directly bad for the user; sometimes they’re just inconvenient. Occasionally they mix bad with good, forcing characters to make difficult choices.

DelusionEdit

The user believes the item is what it appears to be, yet it actually has no magical power other than to deceive. The user is mentally fooled into thinking the item is functioning and cannot be convinced otherwise without the help of a remove curse spell.

Opposite Effect or TargetEdit

These cursed items malfunction, so that either they do the opposite of what the creator intended, or they target the user instead of someone else. The interesting point to keep in mind here is that these items aren’t always bad to have. Opposite-effect items include weapons that impose penalties on attack and damage rolls rather than bonuses. Just as a character shouldn’t necessarily immediately know what the enhancement bonus of a noncursed magic item is, she shouldn’t immediately know that a weapon is cursed. Once she knows, however, the item can be discarded unless some sort of compulsion is placed upon it that compels the wielder to keep and use it. In such cases, a remove curse spell is generally needed to get rid of the item.

Intermittent FunctioningEdit

The three varieties of intermittent functioning items all function perfectly as described—at least some of the time. The three varieties are unreliable, dependent, and uncontrolled items.

UnreliableEdit

Each time the item is activated, there is a 5% chance (01–05 on d%) that it does not function.

DependentEdit

The item only functions in certain situations. To determine what the situation is, either select a situation or roll on the following table.

UncontrolledEdit

An uncontrolled item occasionally activates at random times. Roll d% every day. On a result of 01–05 the item activates at some random point during that day.

RequirementEdit

In a sense, a command word is a requirement. Nevertheless, some items have much more stringent requirements that must be met for them to be usable. To keep an item with this kind of curse functioning, one or more of the following conditions must be met.

• Character must eat twice as much as normal.
• Character must sleep twice as much as normal.
• Character must undergo a specific quest (one time only, and then item functions normally thereafter).
• Character must sacrifice (destroy) 100 gp worth of valuables per day.
• Character must sacrifice (destroy) 2,000 gp worth of magic items each week.
• Character must swear fealty to a particular noble or his family.
• Character must discard all other magic items.
• Character must worship a particular deity.
• Character must change her name to a specific name. (The item only works for characters of that name.)
• Character must add a specific class at the next opportunity if not of that class already.
• Character must have a minimum number of ranks in a particular skill.
• Character must sacrifice some part of her life energy (2 points of Constitution) one time. If the character gets the Constitution points back (such as from a restoration spell), the item ceases functioning. (The item does not cease functioning if the character receives a Constitution increase caused by level gain, a wish, or the use of a magic item.)
• Item must be cleansed with holy water each day.
• Item must be used to kill a living creature each day.
• Item must be bathed in volcanic lava once per month.
• Item must be used at least once a day, or it won’t function again for its current possessor.
• Item must draw blood when wielded (weapons only). It can’t be put away or exchanged for another weapon until it has scored a hit.
• Item must have a particular spell cast upon it each day (such as bless, atonement, or animate objects).

Requirements are so dependent upon suitability to the item that they should never be determined randomly. An item with a requirement that is also intelligent often imposes its requirement through its personality. If the requirement is not met, the item ceases to function. If it is met, usually the item functions for one day before the requirement must be met again (although some requirements are one time only, others monthly, and still others continuous).

DrawbackEdit

Items with drawbacks are usually still beneficial to the possessor but they also carry some negative aspect. Although sometimes drawbacks occur only when the item is used (or held, in the case of some items such as weapons), usually the drawback remains with the character for as long as she has the item.

Roll on the table below to generate a drawback that (unless otherwise indicated) remains in effect as long as the item is in the character’s possession.

Specific Cursed Items

Specific Cursed Items are provided as examples of cursed items. They are given creation prerequisites, should someone want to intentionally create them (although that does not need to be the origin of the item). Note, however, two exceptions: The crystal hypnosis ball and the bag of devouring cannot be created by any known means.

A simple detect magic spell yields a misleading aura and strength, often indicating that the item is a noncursed item of similar sort. An identify spell only has a 1% chance per caster level to reveal a cursed item’s true properties, including the cursed aspect. Analyze dweomer reveals the true nature of a cursed item.

Cursed Psionic ItemsEdit

Specific Cursed ItemEdit

• Reverse Capacitor

Back to Main Page → System Reference Document → Magic Items

Open Game Content

This is part of the Revised (v.3.5) System Reference Document. It is covered by the Open Game License v1.0a, rather than the Creative Commons Attribution Sharealike License. To distinguish it, these items will have this notice. If you see any page that contains SRD material and does not show this license statement, please contact an admin so that this license statement can be added. It is our intent to work within this license in good faith.